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It has been said that soccer is just a game, some say life, and some say that it’s much more than life. Whichever view one takes, the “Soccer War” between El Salvador and Honduras should come as shocking. Though the war has been called the “Soccer War” it was not the beautiful game that caused the war. Tensions had been rising between Honduras and neighboring El Salvador for almost a decade beginning in 1962.
El Salvador had a population much larger than Honduras, but land area much smaller. Many Salvadorans migrated into Honduras and inhabited farms. These squatters encroached upon larger fruit company farms, causing many problems. The fruit companies banded together against the squatters, first taking matters into their own hands, then asking the government to pass a law against the migrants. Honduras obliged, and passed a law sending the Salvadorans back across the border. El Salvador was incensed due to such an influx over a short period of time, and lack of land. Land was subsequently redistributed among the Hondurans.
War built rapidly in 1969. Metaphorically speaking, gunpowder was everywhere, only a match was needed to blow the top off. That match, pun intended, came during the 1970 World Cup qualifying playoffs. Honduras won the first game in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on June 8, 1969. Showing passion, or derangement, Amelia Bolanos shot herself after El Salvador lost. The second game was played in San Salvador, El Salvador a week later. El Salvador won. A tie breaker was played in Mexico, which El Salvador also won 3 – 2 A.E.T. on June 26, 1969. The same day, El Salvador cut diplomatic ties with Honduras, and closed the border, claiming “genocide.”
The El Salvadoran Air Force began using passenger planes to bomb Honduras on July 14. Honduras’ Air Force could not respond. A day later, El Salvador’s army was making progress inside Honduras, then slowed considerably. Honduras struck back with its own Air Force attack with four planes. Using Napalm, those same four planes continued, and targeted oil tanks. A cease fire was quickly agreed upon, and on July 18, 100 hours after official war began, it was over. El Salvador, however, did not withdraw her army until August 2, 1969.
The situation deteriorated in El Salvador, as a civil war resulted from this war’s fallout. Corruption was exposed within the Honduran Military, and Anastasio Samoza the Nicaraguan dictator gained a nefarious Latin American status, because of his helping Honduras, that lead to his downfall in the 1970’s to the Communist Sandanista’s. From a military point of view, this war was notable, because it was the last time piston type propeller planes were used in combat. From a soccer standpoint, who cares, El Salvador and Honduras have proven to be abysmal on the world stage for decades.
armchaircapitalist 